U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the Obama administration’s waterway protection rule, which would negatively impact the coal industry.
The resolution of disapproval filed under the Congressional Review Act would take aim at the Obama administration’s Stream Protection Rule that the president announced during his final weeks in office.
“The Stream Protection Rule is the latest in a series of overreaching and misguided Obama-era regulations that have targeted America’s coal industry,” Capito said. “If this rule was allowed to stay in place, it would add to the economic devastation for people in coal communities.”
Capito said the rule was harmful for jobs, families and businesses, especially in energy producing states like West Virginia. “Passing this resolution of disapproval will help usher in a new era of common sense policies that protect our environment without needlessly compromising our economy and jobs,” she added.
Senate Majority Leader McConnell said the “stream buffer rule” is a harmful regulation that unfairly targets the coal industry.
“It is just one example of the former administration’s policies that have jeopardized jobs and taken power away from state and local governments in order to grow the federal bureaucracy,” McConnell said. “Further, this regulation, like many others of the Obama era does not take into account the negative consequences these policies would have on hardworking Americans and the families they support.”
The Stream Protection Rule served as one example of the Obama administration’s “attack on coal communities,” McConnell said.
McConnell recognized House colleagues, including U.S. Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-WV), for introducing a companion resolution of disapproval in the House. Votes on the measure in the House are expected today.